Shuttle guards for looms



April 27, 1965 J. SIM ETAL 3,180,370

SHUTTLE GUARDS FOR LOOMS Fi led Dec. 4, 1965 II 62); v

INVENTORS JOS'Pl-l SIM WALTER 61M United States Patent 3,180,370 SHUTTLE GUARDS FOR LQOMS Joseph Sim and Walter Sim, Great I-Iarwood, England, assignors of one-sixth to Boardrnan and Baron Limited,

a company of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, and the Isle of Man Fiied Dec. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 327,945 5 Claims. (Cl. i39193) This invention concerns shuttle guards for looms.

Shuttle guards are known in several forms, one of which requires the provision of brackets on the sley cap of the loom. The brackets serve to retain a hinged bar or plate which, when the loom is working, lies above the warp ends, but which, on the unlocking of a catch, can be turned up to lie parallel with the sley.

Shuttle guards are also known which are are carreid within brackets on the sley cap in such a manner that in the inoperative position of the guard the latter rests on ledges formed in the brackets and lies parallel to the sley cap. In the operative position the guard lies in a position at right angles to the sley cap. The guard when moving from one position to the other is caused, due to the shape of the brackets, to turn through 90".

The guards referred to above whilst being to some extent efiective do not completely ensure that a shuttle will only be able to travel across the shed along a predetermined line and thus whilst they are partially efiective they do not completely prevent escape of the shuttle. In addition the guard can be caused to remain in an inoperative position when the loom is working.

The object of the present invention is to provide a shuttle guard which will overcome the above outlined disadvantage and which, during operation of the loom will automatically assume the guarding position.

According to the present invention a shuttle guard for looms includes at least two brackets arranged to be mounted upon the sley cap or hand rail of a loom, said brackets loosely to embrace a guard rail provided with a depending flexible flap, the arrangement being adapted to allow of the parking of the rail in an upper inoperative position when the loom is stopped and to allow of the automatic returning of such rail to the lower operative position upon normal working of the loom.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawing illustrating, in diagrammatic cross section, one practical form thereof and in which FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view or" the shuttle guard of the present invention, and

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view thereof.

In the following description only those parts of a loom relevant to the invention will be referred to.

In a loom there is provided a reed 11 which serves to beat-up the weft picks 12 as they are inserted across the shed 13. Above the reed 11 and attached to it is a sley cap 14 or hand rail. Below the reed I1 is a race board 15 or shuttle race along which the shuttle 16 travels when the loom is operative. At each end of and attached to the sley cap is a bracket assembly 17'. Each bracket assembly 17 includes a backplate 17:; arranged to be secured, for example, by screws, to the hand rail, and a guard rail retaining member 175. The remaining member 1712 is formed from metal bar and is shaped so as to provide a depending slot 170 adjacent to the hand rail and extending to below dddhfi'id Patented Apr. 27, 1965 the level of the underside thereof. The upper part of the retaining member is of greater width than the slot and is so dimensioned as to allow of the application, when desired, of a guard rail 18 to support pegs 170., the said pegs extending inwardly of the brackets.

The Width of slot is suflicient to allow entrance of guard rail 13a and is sufficiently deep to approximate the depth of the guard rail. Retaining member 17b is of a width at least equal to the length of pegs 170. plus the thickness of guard rail 18a to allow the latter to become released from the pegs. The depth of member 1712 is at least equal to the depth of the guard rail. Pegs 17d function to hold guard rail 18a in the inoperative position by entering the complementary openings in the guard rail.

The guard rail 13 is in the form of a strip of wood 13a having a flexible skirt 18b depending from the lower edge thereof.

In use the brackets 17 are secured to the hand rail 14 and the ends of the guard rail 18 are located in the retaining members 171).

The guard rail, in the inoperative position thereof is supported on the pegs 17d, the said rail being provided with through holes to receive such pegs.

As soon as the loom sley 11 moves, the guard rail 18 is caused to move and to fall into the slots in the brackets thus to assume an elfective position.

By correct selection of the size of brackets, the guard rail, when in the operative position, can be arranged to lie with its lower extremity just above the level of the top of the shuttle and the depending flap lying alongside the path of the shuttle and terminating below the level of the top of the shuttle.

The invention is not restricted to the above details. For example, the brackets may be provided with means whereby their vertical distance from the shuttle race can be adjusted. In such a case the backplate would be provided with elongated apertures through which securing screws would pass. The materials referred to above may be varied and for example, the brackets and guard rail could be made of plastic material as opposed to metal and wood.

In the case of metal brackets they could be moulded or die-stamped as oppoed to being fabricated as described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a shuttle guard for looms having a shuttle, operable in a shed, a guard rail, a pair of spaced brackets supporting said guard rail, a raceboard below said shuttle and a hand rail above said shuttle, said brackets being mounted on said hand rail, cooperating means on said hand rail and said guard rail for holding said guard rail in upper and lower positions, the improvement which comprises a flexible skirt secured to and depending below said guard rail, said guard rail being positioned in its upper inoperative position when the loom is stopped with the bottom of the skirt above the top of said shuttle and the Warp of said shed, said guard rail being operative to automatically move into its lower operative position, when the loom is placed in operation, in which the lower portion of said skirt is below the top of said shuttle and substantially in contact with the ways of said shed.

2. A shuttle guard according to claim 1 characterized in that said bracket has a vertically elongated slot constituting said cooperating means, said guard rail being movable vertically in said slot between said operative and inoperative positions.

3. A shuttle guard according to claim 2 characterized in that a peg in said bracket and a hole in said guard rail cooperate to engage and to hold said guardrail in its inoperative position.

4. A shuttle guard according to claim 3 characterized in that the upper part of said slot is sufficiently widerrthan the lower part to permit said guard rail to move outward in that said widened upper part is joined to said lower part by a curved surface. a

References Cited by the Examiner l UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/05 Heintze 139 -193 2,248,641 7/41 lMoessinger 139-188 2,473,172 6/49 Pelce 139188 FOREIGN PATENTS 18,947 1888 Great Britain. 588,387 5/47 Great Britain.

, DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A SHUTTLE GUARD FOR LOOMS HAVING A SHUTTLE, OPERABLE IN A SHED, A GUARD RAIL, A PAIR OF SPACED BRACKETS SUPPORTING SAID GUARD RAIL, RACEBOARD BELOW SAID SHUTTLE AND A HAND RAIL ABOVE SAID SHUTTLE, SAID BRACKETS BEING MOUNTED ON SAID HAND RAIL, COOPERATING MEANS ON SAID HAND RAIL AND SAID GUARD RAIL FOR HOLDING SAID GUARD RAIL IN UPPER AND LOWER POSITIONS, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES A FLEXIBLE SKIRT SECURED TO AND DEPENDING BELOW SAID GUARD RAIL, SAID GUARD RAIL BEING POSITIONED IN ITS UPPER INOPERATIVE POSITION WHEN THE LOOM IS STOPPED WITH THE BOTTOM OF THE SKIRT ABOVE THE TOP OF SAID SHUTTLE AND THE WARP OF SAID SHED, SAID GUARD RAIL BEING OPERATIVE TO AUTOMATICALLY MOVE INTO ITS LOWER OPERATIVE POSITION, WHEN THE LOOP IS PLACED IN OPERATION, IN WHICH THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID SKIRT IS BELOW THE TOP OF SAID SHUTTLE AND SUBSTANTIALLY IN CONTACT WITH THE WAYS OF SAID SHED. 